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on the other, may exist.

By the rules of the Government Emigration Service, however, four men are required to every 100 tons up to 500, three men to every additional 100 tons up to 1000, and two men for every 100 tons above this amount; so that, for example, a vessel of 1500 should carry forty-five hands, all told. Some few owners adopt this scale in tolerable entirety; but our readers will see, from the following tabulated statement of vessels that have arrived in the Thames during 1865 and 1866, to what extent this arrangement is carried out :

Name of Ship.

Royal Alice
Geelong
Prince Oscar
Tamerlane

Regis-
tered

No. of Hands
Home

Tonnage.

(all told).

Galloway

1329

29

French Empire

1324

27

Eaglet

392

14

Thorndean

1207

35

1244

32

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heads trimmed to wind. In the Indian trans- | crowding on the one hand, or undermanning ports there are deck air-channels communicating with main ventilators, both up-cast and down-cast, on Dr. Edmond's principle (see fig. 49). The aspirating force of these ventilators is sometimes increased by steam jets introduced into the up-casts. In some ships the hollow iron masts are utilised either as up-casts or down-casts-e.g., her Majesty's ship Monarch, and the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company-the latter, however, aided by windsails, trellised bulkheads, and side ports. In the ventilation of ironelads of the Monitor class it is necessary to provide for a supply of air when all hatches are closed and light excluded. Both the Glatton and Devastation are ventilated by fans driven by steam-power; indeed, under such circumstances, mechanical agencies are indispensable, and of these the fan system appears practically to have been of most service. There is hardly a craft afloat, from a canalboat to the finest clipper ship, that could not take advantage of the heat of the stove of either the galley or cabin in steamships. Again, the value and applicability of this method is evident; properly-arranged shafts connected with a jacket surrounding a boiler would draw air from all parts of a vessel. It is impossible to recommend any one system of ventilation, since each case must be judged of by its merits, but it is certain that any ventilation that does not get rid of the bilge-air is worthless in a sanitary point of view. (For further information the reader is referred to an excellent article, "Sanitary Science Afloat," in "Naval Science" for April 1872.) Merchant Service.-The vessels comprising the merchant service may be most conveniently divided into three chief classes 1. Ocean-going ships; 2. Coasters; 3. Barges and River Craft. The very unsatisfactory condition of this service has been forcibly exposed from time to time by Dr. Harry Leach, the Medical Officer of Health for the Port of London, in various able papers-e.g., "Report on the Hygienic Condition of the Mercantile Marine, London, 1867," and "Report on Hygienic Condition of the Mercantile Marine in the Port of London, 1871," with others. With Dr. Leach's permission we make considerable use of the papers referred to.

1. Ocean-going Ships.-These vessels vary in size from 250 to 2500 tons, and the number of their crews (all told) from ten to sixty men; and just as there is no law on land to proportion the number of persons living in a cottage to the size of the cottage, so in these vessels there is no definite law to proportion the number of men to the size of the ship, therefore, practically speaking, a large amount of over

When, too, we know that thirty years ago, the regular complement for every 100 tons was five men and one apprentice, it is evident that, on this head, a decadence has taken place, though some

allowance must be made on account of recent improvements (such as patent reefing topsails), which naturally and reasonably tend to curtail the number of hands required. The able and ordinary seamen are berthed in a deck-house built between the fore

and main masts, or, more usually, in what is technically called a top-gallant forecastle, and in some cases in a lower forecastle. The first plan is, however, gaining ground as to large ocean-going ships; and Mr Green's Highflyer is a good example of many new vessels built on the deck-house principle. It is ordered by the Merchant Shipping Act that nine superficial feet shall be allotted to every one of the crew, if sleeping in hammocks; or twelve superficial feet under any other arrangement; that every such

place shall be free from stores or goods, and shall be properly caulked and ventilated-a failure as to the however, practically a dead letter; for as no inspecrule to result in a penalty. These regulations are, tion of seamen's quarters takes place previous to sailing, as no law exists as to the number of seamen carried, and as, moreover, all space allotted to the crew is deducted from the tonnage of the ship when registered, the terms of the Act are frequently evaded in a very great degree. We may fairly, too, take exception to the terms of an Act which indicates nine superficial feet as sufficient for the healthy lodgment of a sailor.

The following list, however, contains the measurement of seamen's quarters in several of the finest vessels now in the East India Docks :

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Examples are here given of the three different modes of housing ships' crews. No deductions are made in this table for the space occupied by chain-cable and bowsprit, and the measurements are in all cases taken at the widest parts.

In all the forecastles, where the bunks are mostly arranged round the bows of the ship, the space abaft (or the widest end) is completely open from the break of the forecastle to the deck below when in port; and at the other, or forward end, of this very airy apartment, two large hawse-holes are constantly open for the passage of the cables. These latter, of course, run completely through the quarters of the crew; and by consequence, unless the weather be fine and the water smooth, these quarters are constantly wet. Here the men eat, drink, and sleep, in the immediate vicinity of the galley, and often in very close proximity to any live stock that may be carried for the use of officers or passengers during the voyage. It may, therefore, without nautical knowledge, be inferred that any comparative amount of decency or cleanliness (not to speak of comfort) is utterly impossible when the cables are bent. When at sea, the hawse-pipes are closed; the open space is sometimes partially, sometimes wholly, filled up in a rough-and-ready style, egress and ingress being afforded to the sailors by means of a hatch opening on to the forecastle, which, from its normal dimensions, may be called a man-hole.

Thus much for healthy accommodation and ventilation of quarters. It should be remarked that, as to iron ships, the consequences of these latter deficiencies are, in warm latitudes, necessarily much exaggerated.

We come next to rations, The scale of provisions accorded to the crews of sea-going ships is not prescribed by Act of Parliament, and so this important matter is also left entirely to the discretion of owner and captain. As facts should always precede opinions, we append in this place some scales of provisions taken from agreements of certain ships engaged in the foreign trade.

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Beef,

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Tea.

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These scales represent fairly enough those used by most ships of the present day; and, notwithstanding the vast amount of improvement in variety of portable prandial material during the last twenty years, we may safely assert that, beyond the introduction once a week of a certain small amount of preserved mixture called soup and bouili, no change has taken place in the mode of provisioning vessels for the last half-century. (It cannot be denied, however, that in good-class ships the quality of diet has greatly improved.) When a vessel is in port, the Act commands that fresh provisions of good quality shall be served out to the crew day by day; and there is no doubt that, on smart lines, the men, when at harbour service, fare well. But it is well known that masters of ships frequently put into St. Helena, or stand "off and on" while a boat goes on shore, without providing fresh rations or even fresh vegetables for their men, though watercresses grow in profusion about the island. It is, too, within our cognisance, that vessels arriving at Gravesend from abroad, and remaining there at least twenty-four hours, have taken in no fresh provisions whatever until they have come up the river and hauled into dock, though the homeward passage may have extended over 120 days. During the ship-to-ship visitation so admirably conducted by the Seaman's Hospital Society in the Thames last year, under the auspices of Dr. Rooke, Mr. W. Johnson Smith, chief of the visiting staff, found the crew of a vessel (which had just arrived from the West Indies) busily engaged in cooking a mass of animal matter, which nasal demonstration quickly discovered to be in a semi-putrid state. He was told by the seamen that the master and mate had gone ashore (probably to dinner), and that this was the last remnant of their sea-fare, off which, nolentes volentes, they were then about to dine. It is not, however, to these points alone, which, it may be hoped, are somewhat excep tional, that we would draw special attention; but chiefly to the miserable want of variety in the above scales of diet, however good and however abundant such diet may be. By way of contrast, we may refer to the following scale of provisions adopted in the French mercantile marine, a perusal of which wil show how very materially and usefully it differs from those above quoted:

Synopsis of Diet Scale adopted in the French
Mercantile Marine.

Breakfast.-Coffee, bread or biscuit, brandy or rum. Dinner.-Preserved beef or salt pork, vegetables or desiccated vegetable mixture, and wine, Supper-Haricot beans dressed in two ways, potatoes baked in the cinders, and wine.

Seasonings, dc-Sourcrout or pickles, preserved sorrel, olive oil, mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice, at the rate of one ounce per man daily, with one ontice of sugar, and one pint and three-quarters of water. The most noticeable articles in this scale of diet are the variety of vegetables given, and the ration of wine or brandy. Very few sailors are now supplied with any grog at all at sea; but to this, among other additions and changes, we shall presently refer Arrangements for the supply of good water are lamentably neglected, in spite of the simplicity of a

distilling apparatus, and the patent fact that the river-water at Calcutta and some other ports is notoriously provocative of dysentery and maladies akin thereto.

This state of things would be, to a certain extent, better in the present day if the Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 was effectively carried out; for it provides for a fit and proper supply of lime and lemon juice, a tolerably liberal space for the berths of the crew, a proper supply of medicine and medical stores, an authorised "Ship's Medical Guide," and a permissive clause as to the medical inspection of seamen before signing articles. It enjoins that every place used for the accommodation of seamen shall be "securely constructed, properly lighted and ventilated, properly protected from weather and sea, and, as far as practicable, properly shut off and protected from effluvium which may be caused by cargo or bilge-water." And it also enjoins that there "shall be one or more properly-constructed more value than health; and, as no control of weights privy or privies for the use of the crew,"

With the view of protecting the seamen in the matter of provisions, it is ordered by the Merchant Shipping Act that, upon a complaint made by three or more of the crew of any ship to a naval, consular, or customs officer, or shipping master, in any port, as to quality of water or provisions, an examination may be made, and a penalty exacted; that the seamen shall receive, by way of compensation for any reduction or bad quality of provisions, at a certain rate per day. It is also enacted that proper weights and measures shall be carried, for the correct weighing out of the rations. It is scarcely necessary to point out the extreme difficulty to sailors of taking action under the first section of the Act above mentioned, or of the inutility of so doing when they return home, unless, indeed, money be to them of

and measures exists before or during the voyage, this latter section can be of no practical benefit whatever to the persons meant to be protected by it.

Thus much as to provisions. It is, in the next place, our province to mention the existing prophylactic measures that are by British law employed for the preservation of health to seamen afloat. The following measures refer particularly to diseases, and specially to that least excusable, because preventable malady, called scurvy. By the terms of the Act it is enjoined that every foreign-going ship (except those bound to ports in Europe or the coasts of the Mediterranean, or those north of the 35th degree of north latitude) shall be provided with a sufficient quantity of lime or lemon juice, which shall be served out with a stated proportion of sugar (to the crew) daily, at the rate of half an ounce per man. A penalty is enjoined on this head for bad quality, or a deficient quantity of the article; and the same penalty applies also, under the same conditions, with respect to all drugs and medical stores, a list of which is issued by the Board of Trade. As to this clause, it is to be observed that, unlike the section on provisions, no seaman can recover any compensation, how much soever his health may have suffered from a breach thereof, as all penalties under that clause go to the Crown; so that even the poor satisfaction of a financial quid pro quo is here denied him. It is ordered, indeed, that any Local Marine Board may, on being required by the Board of Trade to do so, appoint an inspector to examine lime-juice and medical stores. But the insertion of the above italicised word makes the clause practically useless, and so neither sailor nor shipowner has any guarantee as to the quality of lime-juice and medical stores supplied. Nor has the former any means of redress on account of deteriorated health at the end of the voyage.

and that every place for the accommodation of the crew "shall be kept free from stores or goods of any kind, not being the personal property of the crew in use during the voyage."

That this Act has not been properly enforced may be inferred from Dr. Leach's evidence, who says (Report on Hygienic Condition of the Mercantile Marine, London, 1871): "I inspected four vessels, none of which had any provision for light or ventilation, except by means of the hatchway. Another forecastle, divided longitudinally for the accommodation of crew and firemen, had no outlet from above; and great complaints were made as to the hawse-pipe, which in this case, as always, causes a chronic state of wet bunks whenever the cables are bent. The men employed on board this ship begged me to have this source of discomfort remedied. They averred that the sea sometimes washed through the port hawse-pipe with so much force that the flooring of the lower bunks was started, and the bunks themselves rendered, of course, quite uninhabitable."

2. Coasting Vessels. -Over 150,000 of these vessels are annually cleared from the ports of the United Kingdom. Coal, stone, and bones form a large proportion of their cargo, the size of the vessels varying from 80 to 300 tons. Without doubt they represent a large number of hands. Coasting is trying work for the sailor, involving exposure to severe weather, much waiting for changes in the tide, and more continuous anxious labour than falls to the lot of the ocean-going sailor. They are, however, better fed, but there is a great want of accommodation, and a great necessity for sanitary supervision. The number of hands each vessel carries varies from three to seven, always including one or two boys. The master and mate sleep in the cabin, the rest in the fore

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castle. The dimensions of various forecastles | in the ports of London, Lynn, and Newcastleof coasting vessels, measured by Dr. Leach on-Tyne, are as follows:

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There is thus much uniformity with regard to room and cubic space, but as the forecastles in nearly every case contained rope, cordage, and other articles, the measurements in the table are much in excess of the real space possessed by the men. The only aperture for the purpose of light or ventilation is the hatch

way. Most of these forecastles were found filthy and offensive. In rough weather they are nearly always wet, and in case of sickness the condition of the sailor is something truly miserable.

3. Barges, &c.-Under this head may be classed canal - boats, ballast barges, steamlighters, tugs, monkey-barges, &c. According to Dr. Leach, no less than 7000 barges are employed in the Port of London alone, representing a population of from 14,000 to 15,000 souls. The bargemen do not appear an unhealthy class of men, although the sanitary arrangements are in no degree satisfactory.

Dr. Cameron estimated the amount of carbonic acid in four canal-boats; the results are as follows:

1. Cabin, 183 cubic feet; three occupants, each having 61 cubic feet; no windows or

Name of Barge.

ventilators, except, for the latter, a hatch, 4 square feet; height of cabin, 3 feet 9 inches; close iron stove, burning peat. Amount of carbonic acid (8 A.M.), 34 per cent.

2. Cabin, 4 feet 3 inches high, 400 cubie feet; a close iron stove, burning peat; three occupants, but two absent the night before examination. Amount of carbonic acie, 098.

3. Cabin, 3 feet high, 350 cubic feet; no opening save hatch of 4 square feet; occupants two men and a boy. Air at 7:30 A.M. felt very close. Amount of CO, 365 per

cent.

4. Cabin, 4 feet 10 inches in height, 300 cubic feet; no ventilator save hatch of 3 square feet; iron stove, burning peat; three men sleep in one bed, a boy in another, and two dogs on the floor. Air (8 A.M.) felt oppressive. Amount of carbonic acid, 95(Amount of Carbonic Acid in the Air of Canal-Boats. By CHARLES CAMERON, M.D., Chemical News, vol. xxx. No. 776, p. 169.)

The above-quoted analyses show the extreme impurity of the air of canal-boats, and the urgent necessity of sanitary supervision.

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